5. News and Announcements Dean K. Alexander to Assume Top Post at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

The National Park Service has selected Dean K. Alexander, Superintendent at Kalaupapa National Historical Park in Hawaii, as the next superintendent of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park near Chillicothe, Ohio. Alexander replaces John Neal, who transferred to Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Bayfield, Wisconsin, in June.

“Dean Alexander’s proven ability to work with a wide variety of constituency groups and partners, and his extensive planning experience position him well to deal with lands and trails issues at Hopewell Culture,” said David Given, the National Park Service’s deputy regional director for the 13-state Midwest Region.

While superintendent at Kalaupapa for the past five years, Alexander managed a variety of sensitive cultural, historical, and natural resource issues at the complex and developing park. Kalaupapa is an isolated location that can only be accessed by airplane or hiking down a 2,000- foot cliff. The park is primarily known as the historic isolation settlement for Hawaii’s victims of Hansen’s Disease, or leprosy.

To protect the privacy and lifestyle of 50 or so remaining residents, there are special restrictions on visitation, and employees’ families may not live in the settlement. Alexander is “pleased to be returning to the Midwest and to be working at Hopewell Culture in this transitional period as the park grows to fulfill the intent of the 1992 legislation.”

A 13-year veteran of federal service, Alexander served two years as an outdoor recreation planner in the NPS’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was brought to the Midwest Regional Office in 1988 to lead the Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program and was subsequently promoted to Chief of the Planning Branch in 1990.

Alexander later assumed the role of Chief of the Division of Park Planning and Environmental Quality for the Midwest Region. Alexander is a graduate of the University of Florida, Gainesville. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Geography in 1973 and continued his graduate studies in geography there.

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park was originally proclaimed Mound City Group National Monument on March 2, 1923. It was transferred from the War Department to the Department of the Interior on August 10, 1933. It was renamed and redesignated on May 27, 1992. The 1,244.84-acre park, of which 750 acres are federally owned, contains 23 burial mounds in the Mound City Group unit and large geometric earthworks at four other units that provide insight into the social, ceremonial, political, and economic life of the Hopewell people. Finely crafted artifacts of the Hopewell culture (200 BC to AD 500) show that highly skilled artisans and craftsmen used an extensive trade network east of the Rocky Mountains.

NPS Park Archeology Project Excellence Recognized

The annual John L. Cotter Award for Excellence in National Park Service Park Archeology was made to Jeffrey F. Burton, staff archeologist at Western Archeological and Conservation Center, Tucson, for his recent work at Manzanar National Historic Site in eastern California. A presentation was made on April 18, 2001, during an annual meeting of NPS archeologists in New Orleans.

The unofficial award, begun by NPS archeologists in 1999, was established to honor the long and distinguished career of Dr. John L. Cotter for his pioneering contributions to archeology within the National Park System and to inspire NPS employees to continue his model of excellence. Dr. Cotter’s career included significant ‘Early Man’ and other studies on North American prehistory and major historical archeological projects at Jamestown (1953– 1957), Philadelphia (1960–1998), and other NPS field units. He was the first President and journal Editor for the Society for Historical Archeology, which also honors his career with an award as well.

Jeff Burton as the choice for this year’s award is based on a committee’s review of his accomplishments in 2000 regarding the archeological resources at Manzanar National Historic Site located near Independence, California. He led his colleagues and volunteer photographers in completion of the first comprehensive overview of the remaining structures, features, and artifacts at wartime relocation camps in the United States. The overview was published by the NPS as Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese-American Relocation Sites. Fieldwork and historical research formed the basis for this special initiative study that has been reprinted to meet thousands of requests.

In addition, Jeff led multiyear field archeological research at Manzanar NHS to document Native American occupation, the pre- WWII town of Manzanar, and the subsequent relocation camp. Results of these projects were earlier reported in Three Farewells to Manzanar, which Jeff edited.

This study was crucial to additional White House funding and for congressional boundary expansion during 2000. Jeff also assisted the Coronado National Forest in 2000 to dedicate a campsite complex in honor of an internee who led civil rights resistance against interment policies but was detained at the same forest location.

Jeff’s work during the last year involved a wide spectrum of former internees and their families, students, volunteers, agency officials, and leaders of Japanese- American community organizations. His exemplary work at Manzanar NHS is recognized for interdisciplinary research design, scientific historical archeological analysis, broad public involvement, and sharing of research results in a variety of media — hallmarks of John Cotter’s NPS career.

Workshop:
Non-Destructive Mound and Earthwork Research in the 21st Century
May 14–18, 2001

Hopewell Culture NHP hosted a workshop on the practical application of geophysical equipment and aerial photographic techniques available for the identification, evaluation, and ultimately, the conservation and protection of cultural resources. The field exercises associated with the course were conducted at the Hopeton Earthworks and concentrated on the application of these techniques to archeological investigation of mounds and earthworks. Instruction emphasized the use of and the interpretation of data from magnetometers, conductivity meters, resistivity meters, ground penetrating radar, metal detectors, and magnetic susceptibility and their applications to non-destructive subsurface investigations. Workshop sessions also included the use of and interpretation of aerial photographic techniques, and in the use of low altitude large-scale aerial reconnaissance.

Course participants included Federal, State, and Local governmental cultural resource managers and specialists, as well as private contractors, university professors, and students. More than 50 students and 12 instructors participated in this annual NPS training session.

Fieldwork in 2001
A flurry of fieldwork is planned this summer at Hopewell Culture NHP.

Jennifer Pederson, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, and William Dancey, Ohio State University, will direct the Ohio State University Field School at the Hopewell site. This research stems from a multiyear program to document cultural resources in no mound areas inside and adjacent to the site’s enclosures. Geophysical testing followed by limited subsurface testing will aid in determining the nature and extent of no mounded activities. Last year’s field work located the remnants of a sub-mound structure and other recorded and unknown features at the site using this field strategy.

Mark Lynott and Bruce Jones, Midwest Archeological Center, will be directing work at the Hopeton Earthworks. The 2001 Hopeton project will include field schools from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The 2001 research program at Hopeton will focus on the area around the southern end of the earthworks, and it will include geophysical survey, strategic testing, and topographic mapping. About 18 students and 7 staff are expected to participate in the project, which will begin about June 14 and continue through the end of June.